Dave+Amy Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 Well..finally upgraded and new tank's dimensions are 160 x 70 x 70. Currently housing my 12 Discus (the loaches and catfishes are in a smaller 250LT holding tank) - I need a few suggestions in creating habitat: 1) I thought I'd use the silica sand Dave bought me - but is sand heavy enough to hold the plants down? 2) I'm going to source some massive (but skinny) driftwood from Makara hopefully tomorrow - if it's sunbleached do I still need to boil it? 3)I'm assuming silica sand is pH neutral - but when I did separate pH tests between a bucket with the sand and my tank the pH is off by like 0.2pH ? (or is my test kit reading a bit off?) 4) Any driftwood will lower pH? Or just specific driftwood types? Empty tank except for Discus: Discus shots: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfishybuisness Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 wow nice discus, i think the silca sand compacts so it will be just weight it down with a rock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 sand is fine to keep plants in as long as you don't have fish that dig about in it seriously I have got sand in my tank and put river pebbles around the base of the plants but it's overkill really, I only have dwarf corydora :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave+Amy Posted February 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 Thanks @ myfishybusiness @ Sophia - I have 14 loaches all up so I'm guessing they'll dig up my plants? If I sprinkled the top layer with small pebbles wouldn't the pebbles eventually head down and end up below the sand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 Nice looking discus! I hope you can keep the silica sand white, it went a horrible brown colour for me and looked terrible.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfishybuisness Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 Thanks @ myfishybusiness @ Sophia - I have 14 loaches all up so I'm guessing they'll dig up my plants? If I sprinkled the top layer with small pebbles wouldn't the pebbles eventually head down and end up below the sand? i reackon they would end up at the bottom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 if they are digging around the stones yes I think they will move. If they are big enough to touch the bottom and stick out of the top layer of sand then they will be a lot more steady. You could then put more stones on top like a rock garden and they wouldn't have anywhere to fall. I think there is a thread on here from the obstacle and he's used dividers so there are built up areas for plants and sandy bits too. I'm sure the others will have some better ideas if you are going to have digging fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave+Amy Posted February 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 Nice looking discus! I hope you can keep the silica sand white, it went a horrible brown colour for me and looked terrible.. bummer! what am I going to do with 60kgs of white sand :-? Where is the cheapest place to find fine pebbles? I contemplated Daltons but then remember a thread about how stuff builds up bad in Dalton substrate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 Discus are wonderful as always Amy! Why not use the gravel / stones / sand from a local creek or river? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 a landscape supply place is best if you need more than a couple of kilo. Garden centres often have river pebbles in small bags if you just want a few handfuls. when we lived in Upper Hutt we often saw people nicking river stones too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave+Amy Posted February 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 Discus are wonderful as always Amy! Why not use the gravel / stones / sand from a local creek or river? I'm a bit sketchy to take gravel from our local huge river as they've been having algae problems which killed dogs recently (Do i just boil and it should be fine to use??) - I could drive 30mins further up river which may be in better condition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwan Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 I have propagating sand in my planted tank and I think it looks nice. If you have enough plants you won't even be able to see it eventually . But I still think it's a nice natural colour. Those discus of yours are really nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave+Amy Posted February 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 I have propagating sand in my planted tank and I think it looks nice. If you have enough plants you won't even be able to see it eventually . But I still think it's a nice natural colour. Those discus of yours are really nice. by propagating sand - you mean Daltons? Can you gravel vac or have you got it fully covered by plant growth? The grain size is perfect but it will get expensive to cover my tank bottom (thinking 1.5inches depth for substrate) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 It is $13 or so for 25kg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave+Amy Posted February 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 It is $13 or so for 25kg. Woah that's cheaper than the silica sand but I hope I don't need too many bags..worried about the weight of the tank (as unsure about the flooring supports)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfishybuisness Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 silca would be heavier cause it compacts down more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwan Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 Yea it's Dalton's, and it's $5 for 20L down here, but that's from the place that supplies Bunnings. I have a 6x2x2 and I have 30L of aquatic mix (not enough) and I think 100L of prop sand (maybe more). If I gravel vac and have the tube on a lean the sand kinda sits in the tube and not much ends up sucked up. For the bigger pieces of crap on the bottom I just siphon with a piece of hose (gravel vac isn't strong enough to lift it). 1.5" isn't really all that deep for plants, mine would be around 4" which is quite deep, but with the height of the tank it doesn't take anything away from the overall view (especially with yours since it's 70cm high). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave+Amy Posted February 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 Yea it's Dalton's, and it's $5 for 20L down here, but that's from the place that supplies Bunnings. I have a 6x2x2 and I have 30L of aquatic mix (not enough) and I think 100L of prop sand (maybe more). If I gravel vac and have the tube on a lean the sand kinda sits in the tube and not much ends up sucked up. For the bigger pieces of crap on the bottom I just siphon with a piece of hose (gravel vac isn't strong enough to lift it). 1.5" isn't really all that deep for plants, mine would be around 4" which is quite deep, but with the height of the tank it doesn't take anything away from the overall view (especially with yours since it's 70cm high). Thanks - I just had a look at your tank on your link and that is impressive! Do you use CO2 at all? Or just fert balls and liquid fert? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwan Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 Thanks. Yea I have a pressurised unit. Would have cost around $350 max to set up and it's so easy. Makes a huge difference too. Jennifer hooked me up with the NPK ferts and I dose using Tom Barr's EI method (sticky in the aquatic plants section). I dose with the NPK solution, an Iron solution, and Flourish Comprehensive for trace elements. The growth on the tank is amazing, and I'm very happy with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave+Amy Posted February 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 Is a CO2 system hard to put together? I am technically challenged but if you give me a brief outline on what i'll need and what goes where I could get David to do it for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwan Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 Nah it's a piece of cake. Fit the regulator onto the bottle, put the airline tubing on the needle valve and tighten. Add diffuser to end of tubing. Plug in solenoid, turn gas on, and you're away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave+Amy Posted February 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 where do you get the bottle from? and how do you top up the CO2? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwan Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 I got mine through a friend of a friend, and I haven't had to fill mine yet but I think the place down here is 'Air Liquide'. Costs around $30 to fill a 5kg bottle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave+Amy Posted February 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 and how long does each bottle last? How do you know you've got too much OR not enough going into the tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwan Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 Supposed to last around a year which is pretty good. You can either get a drop checker which will let you know (like a pH test kit) how much CO2 you have in the tank, monitor it by pH, or get a CO2 test kit. CO2 saturation should be ideally at 30ppm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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